Fort Kent could lose ’09 World Cup event

Officials at the Maine Winter Sports Center in Fort Kent were shocked Monday to find out the International Biathlon Union may pull the plug on the 2009 World Cup biathlon event scheduled to be held at their facility.

The U.S. Biathlon Association announced that the International Biathlon Union is planning to revert to a more standard nine-event World Cup calendar next winter. The move would reduce by one the number of World Cup biathlon competitions and the event being considered for elimination is World Cup No. 8, which is scheduled March 12-15, 2009, at the Maine Winter Sports Center.

“The prospect of being removed from the calendar for next season is frustrating to contemplate but I am continuing to plan for the event because we may still get it and, if we don’t, we’ll probably have the national championships and a North American Cup in it’s place,” Nancy Thibodeau, the chair of the organizing committee, said in a press release. “I know we’ll have a World Cup in Fort Kent again.”

The International Biathlon Union’s decision-making process in regard to eliminating a World Cup event in 2009 is based on logistical feedback from the teams, which have indicated the schedule planned for the 2008-09 season is too difficult with the World Championships in Korea, a pre-Olympic World Cup in Vancouver, British Columbia, and a World Cup in central Siberia.

Based on the experience from last season, when athletes and coaches had to deal with jet lag and extensive travel, team representatives asked the IBU to cut one event from the schedule. The teams actually proposed leaving the Fort Kent competition on the schedule, but the IBU is unlikely to approve that recommendation because of the impact on other organizing committees, the MWSC release said.

“We are terribly disappointed by the possibility of losing this World Cup,” said Andy Shepard, the president and chief executive officer of the Maine Winter Sports Center. “Fort Kent got the attention of the world with their successful Cup in 2004 and we’re geared up for an even better event next March.”

The final decision by the IBU will be made following its meetings later this month with the European Broadcast Union in Vienna, Austria.

The Fort Kent venue is a favorite of the biathletes because of the large, enthusiastic crowds and the hospitality they enjoyed while staying in the area, according to U.S. Biathlon Executive Director Max Cobb.

“For the last two years I have been hearing from everyone in the international biathlon community how excited they were about coming back to Fort Kent,” Cobb said in a statement.

The potential elimination of the Maine race also is being poorly received by some biathlon competitors.

“After living in Fort Kent for two years, I was really looking forward to racing in front of all the people that made my time there so special,” said Tim Burke, America’s top male biathlete. “Although I am very disappointed, I know the positive attitude of the people in the county, and I am confident that the World Cup will return to Fort Kent in 2001.